The final match was a re-match of sorts, pitting the Spaniards against an army and opponent that the TYW French had defeated previously this year at Britcon

Strangely enough the battlefield yet again featured a massive hill - probably exactly the same piece of terrain - which fell almost slap bang in the middle of the table, neatly cutting the playing surface into two unequal halves. The Spanish are deployed in the foreground, with most of the army including all of the very best infantry formations massed on the right hand side whilst the Swedes have a slightly more even force distribution, partly forced upon them by the presence of a large wooded area which blocked part of their deployment zone on their right

The Spanish had elected to assemble and Ottoman-style artillery park with which to blast away at the advancing Swedish Brigades - or indeed, having learnt the lessions of the previous game, to force the Swedes to actually advance

The battle opened with some skirmishing between two groups of Dragoons on top of the steep hill. The Spanish had a 33% advantage in numbers, and so were expecting to get roundly beaten by the paltry Swedish unit before them. It would be one helluva fight though...

Well, maybe not as with first blood to the Spanish the Swedes lost a base, making their unit almost worthless right from the off. Now surely the hill was the Spaniards to command...?

...as the storm clouds of war sweep across Europe...

On the Spanish right the Swedes this time were doing the proper thing and were advancing boldly towards a decisive tussle with the Spanish line. The Spanish light horse were told to get out of the way, and scooted across the front of the Spanish formation loooking for easier pickings out on the right flank.

On the left the Swedes were also sweeping forwards, but this time only two Spanish units stood in their way, soon to be supported by some Spanish horsemen. But this was just a feint - the Spaniards had no intention of doing anything other than a delaying action on this flank and their men were making preparations to exit the field of play stage right just as soon as the Swedes were fully committed.

And this was the reason - just like in the previous game against this opponent, Cuirassiers were able to chase down a unit of pistoliers on the far right hand side of the table. The game could hopefully be won here before the Swedish right flank had chance to swing round the hill and pile into the left hand end of the real Spanish line

The initial clash was in favour of the Spanish, with the Swedes losing a base and picking up a marker, but also the Spanish had lost cohesion in the process. 3 dice to 2, and superiority and a general - the tide should swing to Spain soon enough

The Swedes were taking an awful pounding as they advanced into the maw of the Spanish artillery park, and the Spanish dragoons, now Kings of the Hill, had started to pour down enfilading fire onto the advancing Swedes as well. If they had been French it woudl have been Dien Bien Phu all over again, but before it had actually happened for the first time. But they were Swedes, so it was just kinda bad.

On the right the plan of the Spaniards suddenly came into stark reality as the one sacrificial Tercio unit wheeled to face the onslaught and the German mercenaries skulked away shamefully. 5 Swedish units were out of play...

TYW Gangam Style

The brave Spaniards lined up to take a helluva beating from the onrushing wall of Swedish infantry and horse - they were losing bases, they were inevitably losing cohesion and still the Germans were skulking away from the line of fire as the Swedes halted at the speedbump that was the Spanish Tercio

The other side of the table was a lot more cluttered - but here the units were almost all Spanish, as they had conspired to conjure up a massive supremacy in unit count, which was now overwhelming the advancing Swedes. Two units of Swedish salvo foote were almost totally surrounded....

Surrounded, and soon obliterated - one of the Swedish infantry units was blown away as fire poured into it from guns, dragoons and shotte.

Further out on the flank the Swedish horse were also outnumbered. The horse facing the Spanish Cuirassiers were still in the game, but another unit of Swedish horse were now being faced off by some Spanish infantry who had placed themselves inbetween the rear of their Cuirassiers and the onrushing Swedish mounted, giving the Swedes an unsolvable problem... The Swedish horse were losing cohesion and were down 25% in base strength already

The Cuirassiers swept away their opponents somewhat inevitably....

And equally inevitably the Tercio holding up the whole left flank of the Spanish army also failed to stand up to the attack from half the Swedish army. But there was plenty of ground for the Swedes to cover before they would encounter another target...by which time hopefully the game would be over

It was touch and go as to whether the remaining Swedish infantry unit would even make it into contact

The German foote were rushing away from the Swedes, who's only real delay was the routing Spanish Tercio which prevented them marching at double pace..

The reduced Swedish army was now unable to prevent the Spaniards running riot across the field of play, and the Spanish light horse were able to sneak in and capture some artillery...the Swedes were slipping towards defeat.

The Spanish were now able to field 10 units to try and take out the two remaining Swedish units on that side of the table...

Desparate to finish the job quickly, Spanish foote took on some of the Swedish horse and quickly dragged their opponents into a death grip from which they, and the army, surely could not escape

The Swedish horse were quickly broken too, and in an astonishing display of concentration of force the Swedish infantry were now outnumbered 10:1

Attacked from all sides, the Swedes slipped to defeat

The Result is a crushing win for Spain

This gave one of these lovely trophies to Spain - painted by Mr Andy Hazelhurst, of Mili-Art, 11 Regent Square, Penzance, Cornwall, TR18 4BG or contactable on +44 (0)1736-360969 and reachable by email on andyhazlehurst@yahoo.co.uk should you wish to ask him to paint some stuff for you

Disco Cuirassiers!

Read on for the post match summaries from the Generals involved, as well as another episode of legendary expert analysis from Hannibal

Hannibal's Post Match Analysis

Barely has someone stolen such success from a second chance in a game that you had already won one time - it woudl have been a near miracle had you maanged to conspire to lose from here

But fear not, there are poor wretches in your command who's lives have been needlessly lost in your impotent attempts at strategy. I woudl rather be tied astride a pommel horse and paraded around the streets of St Albans than be a part of a Tercio under your comand sacrificed to gain almost no advantage at all in delaying a clumsy attack on your right

It is with great fortune that your unimpressive record of won 2, lost one, lost anotherone as well managed to get you into a 2nd place - your tam mate must be far more competent than you, although that is not saying much on a day such as today is it now?

With another competition now imminent I fear to think what the undeserved success achieved through another's seweat and skill does for your hubris as you take the Danes to market and smell the bacon.